A Late Winter Walk in the Garden

As winter draws to a close, the gardens are waking up again. Hippeastrum blooms are filling corners of the Tree Grove with brilliant orange, the garden is awash with red tropical sage flowers around every turn, and deciduous trees are full of fresh green leaves. The unusually warm temperatures of this winter have caused many of our plants and trees to blooms weeks ahead of time, giving spring an early kickstart. Flip through the slideshow below to see what’s blooming and flying in the gardens as late winter gives way to early spring.

View Full Album

Go Bulls!

This morning three ladies from USF came out to help in the gardens. After two hours of mulching we accomplished more than I thought we would. These ladies worked harder than many volunteer groups I have hosted and they thoroughly wore me out! A special thank you to Erin, Katherine and Emily for their great work today!

So, as for accomplishments in the last few days

• the salvia bed is weeded, mulched and full of lots of new salvia seedlings.
• the center bed with clerondendrum and the tire planters has been weeded, the tired have been replanted with beans, collards and snapdragons and the whole area is now mulched.
• The corner of the sidewalk border bed that contains rue, wild petunia and scorpion tail is weeded, trimmed back and now mulched.

The back garden behind BioWorks is really shaping up.  On Friday we have another group of USF volunteers to look forward to and in just a few weeks we have the first of two Eagle Scout projects starting in the gardens. Hurray for Spring and for volunteers!

Coralbean

Currently blooming in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove is Coralbean (Erythrina herbacea).  In the spring the bare branches of this large shrub bloom with bright cardinal red flowers that are attractive to hummingbirds. In the Tampa area, Coralbean can reach about 12 feet or slightly more in height.

Coralbean thrives in sandy soils and can be found in disturbed areas, forest clearings and open woods. This shrub is native to the North American southeast and in indeed a Florida native plant.

Toxcicity

This plant produces seed pods that contain brilliant red seeds that are highly toxic. Used as beads in Mexico, these are also ground to use as a poison for rats. Don’t plant Coralbean on your property if you have small children who like to stick brightly colored things in their mouths.

Unfriendly Plants

Coral Bean, for the most part, is not my favorite plant growing in the gardens as it falls into a category of plants I consider ‘unfriendly’. Although beautiful, the branches are thorny and cutting this shrub back will leave a lasting impression. Even the leaves of Coralbean are prickly on the underside. When handling these branches I recommend wearing gloves and long sleeves.

In general, I try not to add too many ‘angry’ plants to the garden as I know I will just have to tangle with them for years to come. When it comes time to cut back the Coralbean, you will often find Jill and I in the gardens furiously playing rock, paper, scissors (sometimes with lizards and Spock) to determine which of us will be unlucky enough to start pruning.

What’s in a name?

The genus name Erythrina comes from the Greek work erythros, meaning "red," in reference to the red flowers of many plants in this genus.

Spiderwort and a Botanist Explorer Family

We have a fascination with early botanists, especially those who explored and documented the plants in the New World (particularly Florida). Some are very well known, like the Bartrams, while others are quieter footnotes in history. One interesting father-son pair (like the Bartrams) is John Tradescant the Elder and John Tradescant the Younger, who gave their name to an entire genus of plants – the spiderworts (Tradescantia).

John Tradescant the Elder (1570 – 1638), did most of his work in the early 17th century. Between travels, he designed and maintained gardens for the Earl of Salisbury, the Duke of Buckingham, and St. Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury. He finished his career as “Keeper of his Majesty's Gardens, Vines, and Silkworms” at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, under King Charles I. His travels throughout his life took him to the Netherlands, Arctic Russia, Algiers, and the Middle East, and in all places he gathered seeds, bulbs, and plants. He also received specimens from the New World from friends like John Smith. He eventually collected all of his specimens and organized them into the Musaeum Tradescantianum, the first museum open to the public in England.

Though John the Elder described and documented species from the American Colonies, he never actually visited them. His son, John Tradescant the Younger (1608 – 1662), would be the one to make that journey, spending time in Virginia from 1628 – 1637. He brought back some of America’s best trees and plants to share with English gardeners, bringing magnolias, asters, and phlox to English gardens for the first time. After his father’s death, he took over as Head Gardener to King Charles I. Both he and his father also loved to collect “curiosities” in their travels, and their museum included such items as whale ribs, a mummy’s hand, a lion’s head, and crocodile eggs.

To honor the Tradescants, a genus of plants has been named in their honor. Commonly known as Spiderworts, the genus Tradescantia contains about 70 wildflower species all found in the New World. One common species found throughout the BioWorks gardens and Backwoods is Tradescantia ohioensis, or Ohio Spiderwort. This low-growing plant has distinctive three-petaled flowers, usually blue. Spiderworts readily hybridize with each other, and so have become available in additional colors like pink and white. A common plant in woodlands, it is also cultivated for garden use and makes a nice low edging plant.

View Full Album

Walter’s Viburnum – Who’s Walter?

View Full Album

The Walter’s Viburnum (Viburnum obovatum) has burst into glorious bloom once again, which got me to thinking… who is “Walter”, anyway? A search of one of my favorite online tools, the Botanary at Dave’s Garden, led to the information that the Walter in question is Thomas Walter, who lived from 1740 – 1789. He was a contemporary of great early colonial botanists like William Bartram, and he’s best known for his work Flora Caroliniana, a comprehensive catalog of the flowering plants of South Carolina. (You’ll find Viburnum obovatum listed in that work on page 116.)

And that’s about all I could find out about Thomas Walter. The Wikipedia entry is only a few sentences long, and other web searches turned up nothing but a very thin museum pamphlet about him available for sale on Amazon. Perhaps he was a very private man, or simply not all that interesting. It’s hard to say.

Viburnum itself is a genus of more than 150 flowering shrubs that are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The name is Latin for “snowball”, a name that seems very appropriate when these trees bloom in the spring. Obovatum describes the leaf shape: egg-shaped and flat, and attached to the stalk at the narrow end. The flowers are a great nectar plant for winter butterflies, especially small species who love the tiny flower clusters.

Refreshing the Rose Garden

On a day when people around the world are sending roses to signify their love, it seemed appropriate to share with you the new roses we’ve recently added to the rose garden under the Juliette Gordon Low Magnolia in the Historic Tree Grove.

Roses can be very tricky to grow in Florida due to the hot and humid summer climate, which many varieties simply cannot handle. Most varieties of roses also demand a decent amount of regular care, including deadheading, pruning, and fertilizing, and it can be hard for us to find the time to keep our roses as happy and healthy as we’d like. In the last few years, we’ve lost a number of the roses originally planted in the rose garden, so we decided it was time for some fresh plantings. Winter is a great time for rose planting in Florida, as they thrive in the warm but not hot temperatures. Regular watering will help them take hold well by the time the more difficult summer weather returns.

We’ve found it’s best to buy roses grown here in Florida, rather than through mail-order or online rose purveyors, as homegrown roses are generally tested and shown to be able to handle our climate and seasons. The new roses in our garden include:

‘Proud Land’, a hyrbid tea rose developed in 1969

‘Camelot’, a Grandiflora rose developed in 1964

‘Gold Medal’, a Grandiflora rose developed in 1982. This species has blooms that open a deep yellow (left) and fade to nearly white as they age (right).
 

 

‘Frau Karl Druschki’, a hybrid tea rose developed in 1901

Two of the new roses had buds but no blooms at the time of this post, so click the links to see ‘Sonia’, a Grandiflora rose developed in 1970, and ‘Tropicana’, a hybrid tea rose developed in 1960. We look forward to seeing these colorful and sweet-smelling flowers in the garden shortly. We also added a red “drift” rose, a type of groundcover rose that’s become more popular in recent years.

These roses join those that remain in the garden from plantings several years ago, including ‘Neptune’, ‘Belinda’s Dream’, ‘Sunsprite’, ‘Sunstruck’, and ‘Garden Party’. Our best performers with absolutely no care required are the Knockout roses, which we have in single pink, single red, and a newer variety called ‘Sunny’.

If you’re nearby this Valentine’s Day, stop by and smell our roses!

It’s Amaryllis Time!

What could be better than a ridiculous pop of bright color in the garden when the calendar still says mid-winter? The amaryllis in the Tree Grove started blooming several weeks ahead of schedule this year, and the brilliant orange spikes are drawing their usual gasps of admiration.

Amaryllis is actually a misnomer for this plant, which is more properly called Hippeastrum. Hippeastrum is in fact a genus in the family Amaryllidaceae, but it's different from the actual amaryllis, which is native to South Africa and commonly known as belladonna lily. All of the "amaryllis" bulbs and plants sold for indoor and outdoor use are actually Hippeastrum. An easy way to tell the difference is that true amaryllis has no leaves - the stalk grows straight up from the ground (click here for an example).

Regardless of the name, this plant is incredibly easy to grow. The foliage may freeze back in cold weather, but the flower stalks appear reliably each year just the same. And they spread and multiply rapidly, allowing you to divide and spread them around your gardens. Find them here at MOSI in the Tree Grove, especially under the Ray Charles Live Oak and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Live Oak.

Eastern Redbud

Delicate pinkish-purple blossoms quivering against smooth bark are one of the  first harbingers of an early Spring in our gardens.

Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) are deciduous trees in the Legume Family (Fabaceae) that put forth a showy bloom of bright flowers before they even begin to put on leaves. One of the interesting points of this species is that flowers appear directly on the branches and sometimes even on large trunks.

Several of the trees lining our main drive are already blooming a happy riot of color. These blooms are so bright that I keep noticing staff and guests stopping to take a closer look. The trees will keep blooming for the next several weeks and then the Clara Barton Redbud in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove will bloom next. For some reason that one tree always trails behind the others.

Although Tampa is a bit far south for the normal range of Eastern Redbud, this little stand of trees has done quite well. They can be expected to top out around 25 to 35 feet with a spreading crown. Redbuds do best in moist soil and can be found from Florida north to southern Ontario and west into Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

What’s Flying? - February

Well, we’ve certainly entered the doldrums of the year, butterfly-wise. We’re not necessarily complaining, though – for many people around the country, just getting to see butterflies in the garden in February is a treat. And while our variety is low, the numbers are still reasonably high, especially of certain species. Here’s what you can expect to see in the BioWorks gardens and around Central Florida over the next few weeks:

• Gulf Fritillary
• Long Tailed Skipper
• Cloudless Sulphur
• Blues
• Monarch
• White Peacock
• Orange Barred Sulphur
• Sleepy Orange
• Tropical Checker Spot
• Barred Yellow
• Zebra Longwing

Notes from the Field:

• This month, we’ll be on the lookout for late winter/early spring species like Red Admirals, Common Buckeyes, and Whites. We’re also keeping an eye out for Black Swallowtails and Tiger Swallowtails.
• White Peacocks are surprisingly common for this time of year, but it’s been an unusually warm winter. With only one hard freeze taking place almost a month ago, this winter has had above-average temperatures many days. This is allowing semi-tropical species like the White Peacocks to remain in the area rather than temporarily moving south.
• Our caterpillar-rearing lab is a little empty right now, too, but we’ve had monarchs, gulf fritillaries, long-tailed and Dorantes skippers, and sulphurs right through the coldest days. Soon our numbers will start to rise as we begin locating and raising spring species.